Performance of elastomeric spur gear under dry and oil-lubricated conditions

Abstract

The fatigue and tribological performance of thermoplastic-based gears have been investigated extensively so far, but no such work has been done on elastomeric gears. In the current work, the feasibility of utilizing elastomeric material for gear applications was investigated. Initially, the sliding contact performance of an elastomeric material under dry and oil-lubricated conditions was examined. Subsequently, the elastomeric gears were subjected to bending and contact loads under dry and oil-lubricated conditions. The elastomeric gear exhibited only tooth root cracks owing to bending fatigue under both dry and oil-lubricated conditions. Unlike thermoplastic-based gears, elastomeric gears do not exhibit thermal deformation or wear failures. The presence of voids in the elastomeric material caused multiple microcracks under dry conditions. Oil-lubricated elastomeric gear controlled crack growth at the tooth root and changed the cracking mode from tensile to shear under the high load condition.